The Last Time
by xThe Painted Lady
Summary: It's the night before Halloween 1981, and Lily Potter wakes up to her son's cries in the middle of the night. She attempts to calm him, thinking of nothing more but the love she has for her son, not knowing it would be the last time she would.


**A/N:** Written for Round II of CierraLuv97's Fanfiction Idol Competition on HPFC forum. Thanks to RubyRed.950 for beta-ing/editing this for me.

_"You will be randomly assigned one stanza of lyrics from a song. It is then your job to create a story from those lyrics."_

We woke under a blanket

All tangled up in skin

Not knowing in that moment

We'd never speak again

We Owned the Night - by Lady Antebellum

* * *

Little Harry Potter cried. And his mother walked, singing softly to him a calming lullaby as she cradled him in her arms. Her footsteps on the hardwood echoed silently off the soft, baby blue painted walls as she tried to calm him, but Harry only cried louder, and Lily hugged him against her chest. She whispered soothing words to him, holding his tiny body close in her arms. Close to her heart. Tiny droplets of rain began to bat against window of Harry's nursery, it wasn't a rough storm. _Thank Merlin, _Lily thought, _for if it was, Harry was sure to be up all through the night._

No, it was a soothing rain. A soothing sound only water made. Lily felt strangely calm as she listened to it play with the wind outside. Normally she would feel irritated and frustrated. Harry would always, somehow, manage to keep himself up very late at night. And Lily couldn't help but always feel a small pang of irritation at this. She loved him, yes. Oh, how she loved him. Her little boy. Her baby. Her world. He was her heart, her soul, everything she could ever want. And everything she'd rather die for than to lose.

But she was exhausted. Painfully so as she sighed and forced her eyes wide open. They had been drooping shut as she stared down at the baby in her arms. She had been walking aimlessly around the room for the past few minutes as she cradled Harry in her arms. Her singing had stopped. And she hadn't even noticed as she inwardly begged him to go sleep. Her body doing the exact same thing to her. Begging her to rest. Begging her to shut her eyes. Her body soon became forceful. She had nearly collapsed in exhaustion. At least, that's what it felt like. Her eyes drooping shut, her mind becoming rather sluggish, and Harry's cries seemed to have become quieter.

But she knew they hadn't. She could just tell. His eyes were red and his face shined with tears. She tightened her hold around him as she cooed at him softly, hugging him tight against her chest, her motherly instinct kicking in as she looked down at his distressed form. Her arms held him tight in the protective manner almost every mother was known for. But what else would a mother want to do when she saw her child like this? His green eyes, so much like her own, shining brightly with tears. Tears marking streaks against his face as he cried. _Cried_.

Harry let out a whimper as the rain outside became heavier. Pounding harder against the window. Lily walked over to the window and pulled the drapes closer together, shielding the sight of the storm some more. She dared look out before she did, though. The rain came down in harsh streaks. The clouds that blanketed the sky were dark and black as silk and she could hear a distant rumble of thunder in the distance.

She sighed. Looking back down at Harry, she lowered herself into a rocking chair in the corner. She held him close. Her arms wrapped around him securely and she hugged him protectively. Wanting to feel the heat of his body against her chest. Wanting to feel that he was still there, wanting to feel that he was still alive as she laid her head back slightly. Wanting him close to her heart. Wanting him to feel her love.

Harry's tiny hands gripped the hem of her blouse and she closed her eyes. Her arms still holding him tightly. Protectively. She wasn't about to let him fall.

Her mind and body begged for sleep. But she refused. And she kept refusing even though she let her eyes close. And her head rest against the soft cushion on the back of the chair. She wanted to be with Harry. She wanted to stay awake for her baby. Who, after a few more minutes, had finally calmed down, and was slowly drifting off into a deep sleep.

She opened her eyes and looked down at him. She smiled fondly. Stroking the little tuft of black hair that peeked out over the blanket he was wrapped in. It stuck out in all directions, and Lily couldn't help chuckle silently. Thinking of the man who gave it to him. James always seemed to be there for her. And he never held back on his efforts to help her with Harry. No matter how often it would end in disaster.

Lily shook her head. And pulled the soft, blue baby blanket higher over Harry's head, hugging him even closer to her. She glanced at the clock that sat silently on the shelf over Harry's cot. It shined two A.M, and Lily couldn't help but sigh. She knew where James was. In their bedroom, most likely dead asleep. She had snuck silently out of the room when she woke up to Harry's cries. Almost two hours ago. She knew James was ought to panic if he woke up to her not being there. After all, if she was ever the one to wake up and leave to calm their baby she would always return once she managed to calm him down.

But she didn't want to tonight. She wanted to be with Harry. Be with her baby and protect him, love him, and hug him as he slept peacefully in her arms. She looked down at him and watched him sleep. His tiny body rising and falling as he breathed. Lily had to marvel at what she finally accomplished. She had been beginning to lose hope on making Harry fall asleep. After all, she had been trying for close to two hours. But she smiled down at her son. Shifting slightly to a more comfortable position in her chair as she leaned her head back again. Harry being held close to her chest. She felt something soft and warm drape over her as she closed her eyes. Finally falling asleep in the chair.

_Lily felt herself drowning. Drowning. It was like dark mist and fog had swarmed over her. And her mind was drowning. She was suffocating. She screamed._

_But it wasn't for herself. She was scared. But not for herself. It was confusing. Her mind felt like nothing but fog. It felt empty. It felt painful. It felt distressed. It felt panic. It felt sadness. It felt desperate. Desperate. The feeling of needing to protect something began to overwhelm her. She screamed. This time louder. A lot louder. The desperate need to protect clouded her thoughts, her mind; she only focused on one thing. And it was that one emotion. Desperation. She needed to protect something. But she didn't know what it was. She couldn't see what it was. Her mind and her sight was nothing but a swirling cloud of pitch black fog._

_She heard a laugh. And her senses perked up at the sound. But she felt something grip her heart. It was like a shard of ice had just been shoved through her chest. It was like a knife was stabbing her still beating heart._

_She still felt desperate. And she cried. She screamed and she cried. Tears flowing down her face as she threw her arms out. But to what she still didn't know. She still couldn't see. But she heard the laugh. And it slowly became louder. And colder, crueler. She heard words being spoken. But they were rather incoherent. She couldn't distinguish what the words were. They started out as whispers, and they slowly became louder. She could hear it almost clearly now. It was a taunting voice. It was a cold voice. It hardly sounded human. It sounded as though it were a hiss. And she felt her chest constrict with fear. That one emotion taking over her completely. Desperation._

_Her arms were still thrown out wide. Tears were still streaming down her face as she screamed. Screamed and begged. She was hardly aware of her own voice. She had hardly any control. But she knew what she was saying. She knew what she was trying to do. She was trying to protect. Desperately trying to protect. But what it was, she still didn't know. She was afraid to know. She didn't want to know._

_Everything became quiet. She became aware of her surroundings but only had a few seconds to gather what she was staring at. It was nothing but a face of evil. A face as white as stone and with slits for nostrils. Scarlet red eyes shined in her direction. Before she was dissolved into a beam of green light._

_She screamed._

And little Harry Potter cried. Lily's eyes flew open and she nearly jumped out of the chair. Harry was sobbing. Loudly. Lily felt her heart shatter. She looked down and quickly shifted Harry in her arms, putting him in what looked like a much more comfortable position. She hugged him close to her chest and she whispered soothing words to him, cradling him in her arms as she tried desperately to calm him down.

**Desperately.**

That word struck a chord in her. That dream, what had it been? What had it meant? But at the moment she didn't care. All she wanted was for Harry to calm down. All she wanted was for him to fall back into his deep, peaceful sleep. That dream didn't matter at the moment. She didn't care what it was. '_It was a just a nightmare,' _she told herself,_ 'nothing worth worrying over.'_

She hugged Harry close to her chest, close to her heart, and cooed to him. Her words were soft and soothing. But Harry continued to cry. And his cries echoed loudly through the house.

She looked down at him. And she became aware of the blanket that had fallen, draped over lap. James, she thought. He must've been in there. She felt herself relax a little. Knowing he wouldn't wake up and panic. Seeing that she wasn't lying beside him in their bed. Although, she hoped that hadn't happened already. But knowing James, she figured it probably had. But he had to have known where she had gone. She had gone to Harry. And he found her, half-asleep in the rocking chair in the corner.

She sighed heavily and leaned back in the chair. Stroking Harry's messy black hair. He continued to cry. And Lily felt as though something metal was squeezing her heart, seeing her baby cry like this. What had caused him to wake up anyway? She still found herself questioning. Not that it bothered her too much. Harry did this very often. Although, the rain outside had long over passed and the house was quiet. She had no clue where James was. But she hoped, if anything, it was the creak of the staircase that woke Harry up.

She felt a pair of hands pull her hair back. "Lily." She jumped slightly at the voice, and she turned to see James' face illuminated by the little moon light that was shining in through the drapes of Harry's window.

"James," she leaned her head back even more, closing her eyes. Knowing he was there seemed to calm her down slightly. James pulled all the hair that was hanging in her face away, and hung his arm over her.

"Did I scare you?" Lily asked, opening her eyes and staring up at her husband.

"Only a little," he whispered, a finger slowly stroking Harry's cheek. Lily looked down and pulled Harry higher in her arms, adjusting him and holding him tighter.

"What is tomorrow?" Lily asked quietly, pulling the blanket wrapped around her son higher to cover his tear streaked face. He had calmed down somewhat, but was still sobbing slightly.

"The thirty-first," James replied. "Halloween. Why?"

Lily shrugged. "Just curious," she murmured, glancing at the window. James looked at her and grabbed the blanket that had fallen to her lap. He pulled it higher and wrapped it around her loosely.

"Just curious?" he smirked slightly at her. "Well, Dumbledore's coming by. Just so you know."

"Is he?" Lily asked, in a voice that sounded as though she hadn't even heard him. Harry was now silent, staring up at his parents. Lily's eyes were slowly drooping shut.

"Yeah," James said slowly, watching her. He looked down and saw Harry staring and he winked at him. Harry giggled.

Lily opened her eyes and looked down, smiling at Harry. She then turned to look at James. "Why is he coming by?"

James shrugged. His finger now grazing across her cheek. "I don't know. Not tomorrow, the next. I doubt it's anything important, though. Otherwise, he'd probably come sooner, right?"

"Probably," Lily said after a moment. She looked back down at Harry and sighed, leaning her head back again.

James watched her silently. His hand now stroking her hair and the back of her head. His other hand playing with Harry. Harry giggled. His tiny hands doing their best to try and grasp his father's fingers. James smiled down at him watching his son play with him.

Lily's eyes were closed but she wasn't about to fall asleep. She listened to Harry's laugh as her own thoughts tumbled over in her mind. Thinking of tomorrow. Thinking of her dream. What it could've meant. What tomorrow was to bring.

She opened her eyes and looked down at her son. Harry's green eyes, so much like own, looked up at her. And she looked back. Feeling the pull of a love so strong tug at her heart as she stared into his big, innocent eyes. Ignoring the fact that James was there, she lifted her hand away from the blanket that lay draped over her and took Harry's tiny hand in hers. The weather outside was now calm and the wind was silent. The moon's pale light shined in through the window as Lily stared into her son's green eyes. Loving nothing more than this small moment she had to both him and James. Not knowing that it would be the last time. The last time she would stare into her son's eyes. "I love you, Harry."

* * *

_**A/N:** This came out rather depressing, didn't it? Lol, but I hope you enjoyed it and thanks for reading! :) And please leave a review and tell me what you thought._


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